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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $750.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Great range, T* coatings, sharp, contrasty, good saturation

Cons:

Sloppy manual focus ring, plastic case, slow, vignetting wide open

It took me 3 tries to get a good copy of this lens. Apparently the quality control is not too good. When you do get a good one, it's great. The plastic barrel is a turn off. Thank goodness it has a metal mount. Vignetting when wide open can be a real problem, especially at 16mm. Even using a "slim" filter will make it worse. The edges are soft at the wider settings but are OK by f/8. The 1/8" lag in the focus ring is a pain when using manual focus. If you've ever owned a Zeiss lens, you'll be dissapointed in the construction but, the IQ is there if you stop it down to f/8-f/11

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $550.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Sharpness, colour, contrast, range and speed

Cons:

no SSM, price new

This is a really great generalist lens and a reason to use the Sony apsc system. The range is really great for a 3.5-4.5 aperture. The colour and contrast produce very pleasing results. The bokeh is quite good and consistent, and it is really sharp all around. On my a700, I just felt I could trust its results in pretty much all shooting situations. There is some corner shadowing at the wide end.

Shame on Sony for not making it an SSM lens, for this price. I put 7 for construction because of this. They are way behind Canikon in this regard. Buying it used was a good deal. New, it needs a rebuild with same optics and SSM included, for no more money. But even without SSM, it's still a great piece of glass and mine worked well mechanically.

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $690.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Very high center resolution, very good performance at 80mm and wide open, Very good color reproduction and contras

Cons:

Noticeable loss of corner resolution at some large aperture settings, Noticeable chromatic aberration in the corners at 16mm

My copy has on the Sony DSLR-A300 a center resolution of well above 2000 LPH and corner resolution is typically between 1500 to 1700 LPH, measured in the range of biggest aperture down to f8. One special observation is the very good telephoto performance at 80mm at the wides aperture of f4.5: 2200 center, 1700 corner. The one negative exception is at 50mm and f4.5, where the LPH value falls to 1950 center and 1200 corner. Consequently, center resolution is exceptional, corner resolution is mostly tolerable, with 50mm/f4.5 unsatisfactorily. Here are the focal length/aperture settings that I typically use for my copy:
16mm: f4.5 - f16
24mm: f5.0 - f16
35mm: f5.0 - f16
50mm: f5.6 - f16
80mm: f4.5 - f16

Chromatic aberration is noticeable in the corners at 16mm, becomes less visible at higher focal lengths and disappears towards the center. I did not notice any distortion, vignetting or flare that is worth mentioning. Color and contrast are natural and quite attractive. Build-quality is acceptable for amateur-use. Focusing is fast and accurate, even at low-light conditions. The minimum focal length of 16mm saves an additional wide angle lens.

One practical note: Use low-profile or slim-line filters with this lens, otherwise you will have vignetting at wide angles.

Overall the lens is quite usable through its entire focal length, when you keep a few large aperture values in mind that you might want to avoid because of noticeable corner blur. I use the lens for about 90% of my photos and can currently not think of a better lens that has the same combination of versatility and image quality.

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,000.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

quality, good for travel, good bokeh

Cons:

vigneting at widest aperture

purchased to be "Kit forever" lens on Sony dslr-a350 because of quality and razor sharpness. Not bad range for travel zoom. On F/5.6-8 extremely sharp wide angle - good for landscape photos. For portrait this lens may be "oversharp" (some girls will not be happy)
some examples on http://blogx.ru/cityman/img/